Spring Branch ISD offers free summer meals for youths

By Tom Behrens

Published
3:32 pm CDT, Tuesday, July 22, 2014

One of the youths who eats free summer lunches at Buffalo Creek Elementary School is Alexus McNeil, who will be a senior this year at Westchester Academy and is spending her summer volunteering to help teachers and office staff at the school. less

One of the youths who eats free summer lunches at Buffalo Creek Elementary School is Alexus McNeil, who will be a senior this year at Westchester Academy and is spending her summer volunteering to help teachers ... more

Photo: Tom Behrens

Photo: Tom Behrens

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One of the youths who eats free summer lunches at Buffalo Creek Elementary School is Alexus McNeil, who will be a senior this year at Westchester Academy and is spending her summer volunteering to help teachers and office staff at the school. less

One of the youths who eats free summer lunches at Buffalo Creek Elementary School is Alexus McNeil, who will be a senior this year at Westchester Academy and is spending her summer volunteering to help teachers ... more

Photo: Tom Behrens

Spring Branch ISD offers free summer meals for youths

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The Spring Branch school district's Summer Food Service Program is providing free breakfast and lunch to any youth under age 19 at various schools, but few other than summer school pupils take advantage of the meals.

The district's elementary school director, Jennifer Greenhill, isn't sure why there hasn't been more response, guessing that vacations and public lack of awareness about the meal program may be factors.

"All of the summer school kids are offered the opportunity to eat lunch and breakfast," Greenhill said. "Sometimes you see their little siblings that may not be in summer school come and join them."

The state-funded program, however, has been around for a while.

"I have been here for 10 years and I'm sure we done it for longer than that," said Chris Kamradt, the district's director of child nutrition.

The Summer Food Service Program continues through the first week in August.

Breakfast usually begins by 7 a.m.; lunches are served around 11:30 a.m.

"There's no registration; just come to a participating school," Kamradt said.

Last summer, the district served 103,900 meals.

At one of the meal sites, Buffalo Creek Elementary School, 2801 Blalock, only a handful of youths other than summer school participants come to eat.

"On other sites we have seen maybe up to 15 kids in addition to the summer school children, but most schools see very few," Greenhill said.

Buffalo Creek is the site for summer school for 400 kids from that campus and three other schools.

"The majority of the kids who come to summer school come from Pre-K and kindergarten, children with limited English proficiency," Greenhill said.

One of those who eats lunches at Buffalo Creek is Alexus McNeil, 17, who will be a senior this year at Westchester Academy and volunteers at the elementary campus in the summer.

"I love the school because I went here for elementary school," McNeil said.

"It's a great source of exercise and a great way to meet little kids. I help switch kids from room to room, help get them to their rooms, help teachers."